Welcome to the website of the recorder ensemble Fontanella!

Featuring five of the UK’s leading specialist professional artists, Fontanella entertains audiences of all ages in a variety of programmes designed to bring the history of this remarkable instrument to life.

Our lively concert programmes span six hundred years of music, celebrating the long history of the recorder from the medieval period right up to the present day. We perform on a specialist array of instruments of every shape and size, from our beautiful 15-piece renaissance consort to our fascinating set of contemporary Paetzold ‘square’ basses; our aim is to combine an awareness of the most recent scholarship in renaissance and early repertoire with performances of more contemporary works, as well as including our own unique arrangements of music from other genres. Programmes often include all of these elements, usually woven together creatively by a historical or festival theme.

Group History

Equally at home with specialist early music audiences, music clubs and in the recording studio, Fontanella has performed across Britain and Europe, including special festival appearances in Italy, Iceland and Finland and concerts in all corners of the UK. Our performing highlights in recent years include starring in an episode of the BBC’s flagship music show for children ZingZillas, which has since been repeated many times both in the UK and across the world; and performing live for Dame Judi Dench in the 2014 Ardingly ArtsFest. In recent years, several of the individual members of the group have also performed on soundtracks for films, including Harry Potter, Philomena, Grand Budapest Hotel, Shrek and Fantastic Mr Fox.

Performing style

The members of the group have a close musical bond, which has evolved over more than a decade of performing together. The group’s relaxed and communicative style puts audiences at ease, with carefully selected repertoire from across the centuries presented with informative and friendly introductions.

Education

Fontanella also excels at creating special educational projects for children, which has led to large-scale events hosted by venues and festivals across the UK including the Brighton and York Early Music Festivals, the Southampton Turner Sims Hall, and music services in London, Kent, Cambridgeshire, Sussex and Surrey.

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What was remarkable was the quality of their ensemble playing. You can see them constantly communicating, with eye contact and body language, so you can see how it is being done, but it still seems like a bit of magic…

Fontanella

Fontanella is a UK-based recorder quintet specialising in historical performance, new music and education projects.